USAID in the News

This week, the President’s proposed Food Aid Reform in his FY2014 Budget Proposal garnered significant attention both from members of Congress at Administrator Shahs’ hearings on Capitol Hill and in the media.

This week Administrator Shah appeared before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. Delving into the testimony, Politico says “Rajiv Shah – the bright young star at the United States Agency for International Development” – promoted “a more modern and science-based way” to deliver food aid to those who need it most. Shah testified that “Behind all this is President Barack Obama’s plan to revamp international food aid to allow more flexible, cash purchases overseas – rather than commodity shipments from the US.”

In its “Democracy In America” blog, The Economist notes that “USAID’s head, Rajiv Shah, is optimistic that the reformers will win this argument, pointing to a fiscal environment in which every dollar must be made to count.” In the New York Times piece titled “When Food Isn’t the Answer to Hunger”, Tina Rosenberg recalls that “in many places, people go hungry because there is no food. But in a lot of places, food is available and the market is working – people are just too poor to buy it. In those places, giving individuals or charitable groups cash to buy food can make food aid cheaper, faster and fairer.” Roseenberg adds that “by strengthening and not undercutting local farmers, cash aid also helps countries to avoid hunger later.”